Finding Time for God

Monday, July 20, 2015

Thanks to an abundance of rain, cool weather, and overcast
skies the roadsides are blanketed with more color than I've ever seen before.
Daisy’s, sweet clover, Birdseye trefoil, wild roses, hawkweed, fireweed,
lupines in swaths or dancing together in the breeze. If you like walking, the
scent can be quite intoxicating. If you're allergic, best to view from inside a
car.

Perhaps it is all this beauty, or maybe just the fact that I've finally
finished the sequel to the Scent
of God, that prompts me to take a break from single-minded focus to finish
the book. Even as I fervidly worked on the manuscript and condensed each
chapter into a few sentences for an expanded table of contents, you hovered
behind the scenes, reminding me that I have a beautiful family, wonderful
friends, and lovely acquaintances with whom I haven’t connected in close to six
months.

It’s a paradox—humorous but sad—that as our lives grows
shorter, time keeps picking up speed. I am no longer young enough to think I
have a lot of living ahead of me. I’d like the sequel to be published while I'm
still around, not posthumously. I no longer multitask, or rush from one
activity to another. Now I view with mouth agape at all some people are able to
accomplish. I wonder if they've made a pact with their alter ego (perhaps they
have more than one) so that while one focuses on a single project, the other flits
about picking up the slack and dreaming up a zillion other things to accomplish
Now!

I've just returned from a ten-day silent retreat at St.
John’s Abbey in Collegeville that focused entirely on the now: living each
moment fully aware. Yet there is such a contradiction in the way we use that
word “Now.” Not in its meaning, but as western culture defines it: Do it now! Such pressure does not allow
for much awareness.

In answer to your many questions asking when the sequel to
the Scent of God will be available, all I can say is “I'm working on it.” Have
a blessed summer, one with just enough rain and heat to make it spectacular.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune named Beryl as a "Best of
2006 Minnesota
Authors." Her book The Scent of God was a “Notable” Book
Sense selection for April 2006. Her second book, A View of the Lake was
released in May 2011 and named a best regional book by the Minneapolis Star
Tribune

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Once again, I can offer you free access to the Kindle version of The Scent of God. This free offer begins April 24 and lasts through April 25. Pass this information on to anyone who might be interested. Thank you!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

DON’T MISS OUT on a
Perfect Valentine Day gift for you and your loved ones. Free tomorrow through Valentine's Day: the kindle edition of The Scent
of God by Beryl Singleton Bissell. Click here

"THE SCENT OF GOD is a terrifying, passionate, and
exalted examination of what it means to love with your whole heart. The
facts of Beryl Bissell's life make this book impossible to put down. The
extraordinary beauty of her writing made me wish this book would never
end." – Ann Patchett, author of Bel
Canto, This is the Story of a Happy, Marriage, State of Wonder

Monday, December 22, 2014

ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT on the countdown sale of The Scent of God by Beryl Singleton Bissell on Kindle for $ 1.99 (list $7.99)—
this sale is part of a 7-day countdown promotion, during which the price remains the same until December 25!

Don’t forget that books make great gifts. This sale will enable you to get that last minute Christmas gifts for your loved ones and friends at greatly reduced prices.

Have a blessed holiday and peaceful New Year. Travel safely, avoid too much eggnog, savor your favorite foods and delight in shared friendship and give thanks for the daily miracles that surround you.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

This Friday, December 19, 2014, my book,The
Scent of God (kindle) will be available for $ 1.99 (list
$7.99) — part of a 7-day countdown sale during which the price will
gradually rise until the sale ends on December 25, 2014.

Don’t forget that books make great gifts. This sale will
enable you to get that last minute Christmas gifts for your loved ones and
friends at greatly reduced prices.

Have a blessed holiday and peaceful New Year. Travel safely,
avoid too much eggnog, savor your favorite foods and delight in shared
friendship. Thanks for your support of this book and ongoing
encouragement.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Now that the Scent of God is on Kindle, a great sense of relief pervades my writing life. The first two days it was downloaded 2, 997 times. Granted they were downloaded free, but hey, I'm not worrying. The main purpose was to share the story with as many people as I can reach. Now this nice little kudo.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Have you ever received an
Easter card proclaiming “We are an Easter People?”

In an article in the April 11-24, 2014 edition of The National Catholic Reporter, Peg
Ekerdt wrote of having received such a card from “a mother of 13, grandmother
of more, who was living with an advanced stage of breast cancer . . . Barb
wanted all whom she loved to know that the power of faith transforms even
death.” These words say more the traditional Happy Easter messages that do
little save to remind us to dye the eggs, buy the chocolate bunnies, and
perhaps . . . maybe . . . attend church to celebrate faith.

Who are these Easter people? Easter people probably don’t think
of themselves as such. They might or might not be Christians. For that matter,
they might not even believe in God. But Easter people surround us. They reveal
themselves by the way they care for and love one another, the way they live
with honor and honesty and work to make their bit of the earth a better place
to live. They are the ones who share what they have with those needier than
themselves, who celebrate the good that surrounds them, they are the ones who greet
adversity with courage and yet continue to hope. Keep your eyes open for these
“Easter People,” you might discover that you are one of them.

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About Me

Nun, wife, widow, single mom, divorcee, bereaved mother, and happily remarried since 1996. Award-Winning author of The Scent of God -- a Book Sense notable for April 2006, named a "Best of 2006 Minnesota Authors," by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. A View of the Lake was released June 2011 and named Best Regional Book by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

I was a columnist for 10 years with the Cook County New Herald and freelance writer for various regional and national print and online publications. Published in the anthology Surviving Ophelia edited by Cheryl Dellasega, and in The New Writers Handbook, Volume 2